WEBVTT - Season 09 Episode 23: We All Fall Down

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<v Speaker 1>Hello. It's Richard mclinsmith here, very excited to announce that

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<v Speaker 1>this May I'll be heading to Crime Con twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 1>six in Las Vegas, the world's number one true crime event,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'd love to see you there. From May twenty

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<v Speaker 1>nineth to the thirty first, thousands of true crime fans, investigators, journalists, podcasters,

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<v Speaker 1>experts and survivors will gather at Caesar's Palace and Las

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<v Speaker 1>Vegas for an unforgettable weekend of live talks, exclusive panels,

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<v Speaker 1>deep dives, and behind the scenes conversations. I'll be appearing

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<v Speaker 1>throughout the weekend on Creator Row, so please come and

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<v Speaker 1>say hello. And if you'd like to join me for

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<v Speaker 1>my live session Treasure, Betrayal and Death in Vegas, the

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<v Speaker 1>Ted Binyon Mystery, I'll be speaking at ten twenty am

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<v Speaker 1>on the Saturday morning. To get tickets, head to Crimecon

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<v Speaker 1>dot com and use promo code Unexplained for ten percent off.

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<v Speaker 1>I hope to see you there. It was early morning Sunday,

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<v Speaker 1>July thirteenth, nineteen eighty as a coach full of excited

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<v Speaker 1>children dressed in majorrette uniforms rumbled along the M one

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<v Speaker 1>in central England. The Zingaris, a junior marching band from

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<v Speaker 1>clay Cross in Derbyshire, were on their way to the

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<v Speaker 1>hollandwell Annual Show to take part in a marching band competition.

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<v Speaker 1>The children chatted noisily as the band's founder and leader,

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<v Speaker 1>Judy Vaughan, watching over them like a hawk, went through

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<v Speaker 1>their setlist again in her head. Just after eight a m.

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<v Speaker 1>The bus decelerated suddenly and made a slow, lumbering turn

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<v Speaker 1>into a field littered with parked cars and buses. The

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<v Speaker 1>children cheered in unison, forcing Judy to raise her voice

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<v Speaker 1>to tell them to calm down and wait in their

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<v Speaker 1>seats until the bus had come to a complete stop. Ordinarily,

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<v Speaker 1>hollandwell Field, located near the small Nottinghamshire mining town of

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<v Speaker 1>Kirby and Ashfield, was little more than a large patch

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<v Speaker 1>of grass surrounded by farmland, but that Sunday it teemed

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<v Speaker 1>with activity and noise, with several hundred children, teachers and

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<v Speaker 1>parents having gathered there for the show. Porterloos were being refreshed.

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<v Speaker 1>Generators started up to run the many food stalls selling

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<v Speaker 1>hot dogs, candy, floss and ice cream, while the local

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<v Speaker 1>Saint John's Ambulance Brigade added the finishing touches to their tent.

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<v Speaker 1>The Hollinwell Band Competition would involve five hundred children from

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<v Speaker 1>eleven junior marching bands. With a bright, clear sky above

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<v Speaker 1>and the excited band confident in their routine. It was

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<v Speaker 1>set to be the perfect day, but all that was

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<v Speaker 1>about to change. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard

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<v Speaker 1>McLean Smith. Marching bands are especially popular in northern and

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<v Speaker 1>central England and largely in former mining communities. Very much

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<v Speaker 1>in vogue in the nineteen eighties, junior bands were often

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<v Speaker 1>called jazz bands, despite playing an eclectic range of tunes.

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<v Speaker 1>The name was more because the whole enterprise was thought

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<v Speaker 1>of as jazzy. The kids loved getting dressed up and

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<v Speaker 1>wearing sashiers with all their medals. Coaches began arriving early

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<v Speaker 1>at the Hollandwell Showground, each full of children aged between

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<v Speaker 1>five and fifteen wearing bright major at uniforms. The jazz

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<v Speaker 1>band competition would begin with an inspection in which each

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<v Speaker 1>band was judged for the neatness of their outfits. Then

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<v Speaker 1>each group was given a slot to perform a fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>to twenty minute long display on which they would be

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<v Speaker 1>judged again. It was going to be a long day.

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<v Speaker 1>Luckily it was shaping up to be a pleasant one,

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<v Speaker 1>being sunny with just a few clouds here and there.

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<v Speaker 1>As Judy ushered the kids off the coach, she urged

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<v Speaker 1>them all to visit the port to lose first, before

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<v Speaker 1>returning to get themselves ready for the inspection. A short

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<v Speaker 1>time later, the band were all back and neatly assembled.

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<v Speaker 1>Terry Bingham, the band secretary, and Judy fussed over them,

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<v Speaker 1>adjusting outfits and giving last minute pointers on routines they'd

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<v Speaker 1>been practicing for months. As Judy reminded them the event

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<v Speaker 1>was highly competitive and every band would be giving it

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<v Speaker 1>their all. The youthful excitement and tension in the air

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<v Speaker 1>was palpable as the Zagaris lined up for their inspection.

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<v Speaker 1>After what seemed an age, the judges finally finished their

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<v Speaker 1>assessment and the bands were ready to begin. Eight year

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<v Speaker 1>old Claire Hughes from Kirby and Ashfield played the tambourine

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<v Speaker 1>in one of the bands and had come to the

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<v Speaker 1>event with her granddad. They both watched on as one

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<v Speaker 1>of the top bands began performing an elaborate routine. It

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<v Speaker 1>had just gone eleven fifteen as the band marched from

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<v Speaker 1>the arena that the lead girl began to stagger slightly,

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<v Speaker 1>then suddenly collapsed to the ground. Then a loud gasp

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<v Speaker 1>rang out from the crowd as one by one, five

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<v Speaker 1>of her fellow band members then collapsed behind her. Parents

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<v Speaker 1>and carers sprinted over to help and found the children

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<v Speaker 1>either unresponsive or strangely dazed. Pulling them up, they carried

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<v Speaker 1>them hurriedly to the Saint John's Ambulance tent, where water

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<v Speaker 1>and first aid were swiftly administered. Tight fitting uniforms were

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<v Speaker 1>loosened and the children cooled down as best as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>Before long they'd all come round, having seemingly just collapsed

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<v Speaker 1>from heat exhaustion from having been kept standing to attention

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<v Speaker 1>for over an hour, then performing an energetic routine under

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<v Speaker 1>the blazing sun. But then more children started to collapse.

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<v Speaker 1>Photographer Neil Lancashire happened to set up his store close

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<v Speaker 1>to the ambulance tent. He watched with alarm as one

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<v Speaker 1>and then a second group of kids were stretchered in

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<v Speaker 1>by Saint John's Ambulance volunteers. Then he heard muttering among

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<v Speaker 1>some of the spectators. Perhaps it wasn't exhaustion at all,

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<v Speaker 1>they wandered, but food poisoning. Just then, as if echoing

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<v Speaker 1>what the photographer had just hurt, an announcement suddenly boomed

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<v Speaker 1>from the tannoy system. Don't eat the ice cream. There

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<v Speaker 1>may be a problem with the ice cream, it warned.

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<v Speaker 1>No sooner had the announcement been made than another group

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<v Speaker 1>of children in uniform keeled over. As parents and teachers

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<v Speaker 1>swarmed around the fallen children, another tannoy announcement blared across

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<v Speaker 1>the field. Don't eat the sweets either, there might be

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<v Speaker 1>a problem with them two. Just then, on the far

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<v Speaker 1>side of the field, another group of children collapsed. Following that,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the food vendors wandered aloud if it might

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<v Speaker 1>in fact be something to do with the water, provoking

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<v Speaker 1>another urgent announcement over the tannoy, don't drink the water.

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<v Speaker 1>There may be a problem with that too, And sure enough,

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<v Speaker 1>another group of children collapsed seemingly in response. Screams were

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<v Speaker 1>hurt as the crowd became ever more distressed, wondering who

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<v Speaker 1>might be effected next. Neil the photographer snatched up one

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<v Speaker 1>of his cameras and started taking shots of the mayhem

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<v Speaker 1>steadily unfolding around him. By then so many children had

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<v Speaker 1>collapsed there wasn't room for all of them in the

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<v Speaker 1>first a tent. So new patients were laid on the

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<v Speaker 1>ground outside. But first responders had been so focused on

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<v Speaker 1>the children, no one had noticed that spectators were also

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<v Speaker 1>now falling to the ground. Some started to complain of

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<v Speaker 1>headaches and feeling pins and needles in their tongues and lips.

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<v Speaker 1>Others clutched at their stomachs, feeling cramps. A man stumbled

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<v Speaker 1>up to the ambulance volunteers, complaining of weakness in his

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<v Speaker 1>arms and legs. He said it felt as if they

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<v Speaker 1>had no bones in them enid homes. The secretary of

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<v Speaker 1>another marching band tended to one of her troop, pulling

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<v Speaker 1>their jacket off. She was horrified to see strange blobs

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<v Speaker 1>had appeared on their back and legs, which, on closer

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<v Speaker 1>inspection seemed to be water filled blisters. Later other people

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<v Speaker 1>would mention that their eyes and noses had begun to sting.

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<v Speaker 1>Some complained of a bad taste in their mouths, or

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<v Speaker 1>of burning sensation at the back of their throats. A

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<v Speaker 1>few people said that the grass looked dusty and in

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<v Speaker 1>places appeared to have a weird blue color. Then another

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<v Speaker 1>tannoy announcement rang out, stay off the raf it'd been

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<v Speaker 1>sprayed with insecticide. Then another group of children collapsed and

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<v Speaker 1>the event was hurriedly called off. As one paramedic and

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<v Speaker 1>his partner raced towards the Hollandwell showgrounds in their ambulance,

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<v Speaker 1>the radio squawked out an endless request for all hands

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<v Speaker 1>to make their way to the annual show. Having assumed

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<v Speaker 1>they were heading towards a major road traffic accident, they

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<v Speaker 1>were surprised when they pulled onto Hollenwell Field and found

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<v Speaker 1>something else. Entirely, it was like a surreal battleground, with

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<v Speaker 1>collapsed children dressed in bright military uniforms lying on the

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<v Speaker 1>ground everywhere, surrounded by worried adults. When the paramedic stepped

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<v Speaker 1>out of his ambulance, he noticed something else, a strong

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<v Speaker 1>and peculiar odour in the air. Eight year old Claire

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<v Speaker 1>Brown and her granddad watched stunt as more and more

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<v Speaker 1>ambulances came through the gate. It was only then that

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<v Speaker 1>they and the people around them since the full seriousness

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<v Speaker 1>of the situation. Then the police arrived too and began

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<v Speaker 1>clearing the sight, Singari's band leader Judy Vaughn, rounded up

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<v Speaker 1>what was left of her troop and ushered them onto

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<v Speaker 1>their coach. Elsewhere, club secretary Terry Bingham was driving six

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<v Speaker 1>of them, who'd all come down with various ailments, to

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<v Speaker 1>the local hospital. But as Terry drove, he started to

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<v Speaker 1>feel unwell too, and a sharp pain began to spread

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<v Speaker 1>across his chest. As the Cingari's coach pulled out onto

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<v Speaker 1>the road. For a few minutes, all seemed to be

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<v Speaker 1>well with the remaining children. Then Judy heard crying coming

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<v Speaker 1>from the back of the bus. Judy made her way

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<v Speaker 1>down the aisle and soon found the sick girl lying

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<v Speaker 1>across two seats. She had red irritated eyes and said

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<v Speaker 1>it was too sore to sit up. Then a cry

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<v Speaker 1>came out from elsewhere on the bus from another girl

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<v Speaker 1>with the exact same symptoms. In a panic, Judy immediately

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<v Speaker 1>had the coach driver turn them around and drive them

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<v Speaker 1>straight to the hospital. Once there, the various members of

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<v Speaker 1>the Cingaris were examined by medical staff, but were all

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<v Speaker 1>eventually discharged when doctors failed to establish any genuine cause

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<v Speaker 1>of their symptoms. When eight year old Claire Brown finally

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<v Speaker 1>made it home with her grandad. She ran out to

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<v Speaker 1>play in the back garden, having seemingly escaped any harm

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<v Speaker 1>from the showground. It was a few hours later as

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<v Speaker 1>Claire played under the soft afternoon sun, then she found

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<v Speaker 1>the light feeling suddenly too bright, and the sound of

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<v Speaker 1>the birds chirping in a nearby tree eerie and distorted.

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<v Speaker 1>Claire staggered across the lawn and tottered unsteadily into the kitchen.

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<v Speaker 1>Glancing up, her mother was aghast at what she saw.

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<v Speaker 1>The little girl was swaying and foaming at the mouth,

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<v Speaker 1>her eyes red raw and streaming. Claire was rushed to

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<v Speaker 1>hospital immediately, where she was kept in for the night

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<v Speaker 1>for observation. By the end of that strange Sunday, around

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred victims from hollandwell Field had received medical attention.

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<v Speaker 1>Due to the sheer numbers, every hospital in Nottinghamshire had

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<v Speaker 1>ended up receiving affected people for observation and treatment. As

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<v Speaker 1>police moved in to investigate, public health officials from Kirby

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<v Speaker 1>and Ashfield's District Council began taking samples of food and

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<v Speaker 1>drink from all the stores, as well as sampling the water,

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<v Speaker 1>soil and grass. An official inquiry was immediately set up.

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<v Speaker 1>Speculation about the cause of the incident was rife, with

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<v Speaker 1>theories ranging from the mundane to the extravagantly bizarre. One

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<v Speaker 1>contended that aliens had landed in the field next to

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<v Speaker 1>the event, causing the outbreak of an unknown illness, but

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<v Speaker 1>no one had caught even the slightest glimpse of anything

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<v Speaker 1>strange in the skies over Nottinghamshire, so that theory was

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<v Speaker 1>soon replaced by another. For some time, it had been

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<v Speaker 1>speculated that top secret weaponry involving the beaming of microwave

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<v Speaker 1>radiation had been used by the government of the Soviet

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<v Speaker 1>Union to covertly destabilize their opponents. After the incident at

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<v Speaker 1>hollinwell Field, some began to wonder if the UK had

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<v Speaker 1>employed the exact same thing targeting the nineteen eighties Summer

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<v Speaker 1>Olympic Games, which were due to start six days later

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<v Speaker 1>on July nineteenth in Moscow. The official inquiry certainly had

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<v Speaker 1>its work cut out. There were a number of key

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<v Speaker 1>facts that didn't seem to make any sense. Why did

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<v Speaker 1>many of the victims collapse in a relatively small part

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<v Speaker 1>of the field, and why did it happen to small

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<v Speaker 1>groups of people, typically five or six at a time,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than everyone at once. Why of the one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>ninety three hospitalized children from marching bands were the overwhelming

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<v Speaker 1>majority girls one hundred and thirty seven of them, while

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<v Speaker 1>only thirty seven were boys, And what had caused nine patients,

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<v Speaker 1>including two babies, to have symptoms so concerning they were

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<v Speaker 1>detained in hospital for one or two nights. As it

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<v Speaker 1>turned out, the symptoms and their timing were not consistent

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<v Speaker 1>with food poisoning. The water from the single drinking pipe

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<v Speaker 1>at the site was also found not to be contaminated,

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<v Speaker 1>and very few children had drunk from it anyway. Perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>the crowds at Hollenwell had somehow been exposed to a

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<v Speaker 1>toxic chemical wandered some, but blood and urine taken from

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<v Speaker 1>victims all tested negative for toxic substances. The only seemingly

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<v Speaker 1>solid clue was that doctors noted a few patients did

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<v Speaker 1>show symptoms of inhaling something toxic. Singari's band leader Judy Vaughan,

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<v Speaker 1>noticed that the band's uniforms began to emit a very

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<v Speaker 1>strong chemical odor when she washed them later that day,

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<v Speaker 1>despite leaving them soaking overnight and changing the water several times,

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<v Speaker 1>the unpleasant chemical smell had not shifted. Not long after,

0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:42.240
<v Speaker 1>Terry Bingham, the band secretary, returned home complaining of a

0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.680
<v Speaker 1>pain in his chest. He too was rushed off to hospital.

0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.520
<v Speaker 1>After being examined by a doctor. He was given a

0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:53.240
<v Speaker 1>sealed letter to take to his gp back at home.

0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.520
<v Speaker 1>Irritated that they wouldn't tell him directly what it said,

0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:59.680
<v Speaker 1>Terry is said to have steamed the letter open to

0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:04.240
<v Speaker 1>read for himself. He was horrified to discover. The hospital's

0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:08.000
<v Speaker 1>conclusion was that his symptoms were most likely the result

0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:21.680
<v Speaker 1>of exposure to a poison. The possibility that people at

0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.120
<v Speaker 1>the Hollinwell Annual show had been exposed to some kind

0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.000
<v Speaker 1>of chemical poison was on the minds of the official

0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:33.680
<v Speaker 1>investigators too. On questioning the surrounding farmers, one was found

0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.960
<v Speaker 1>to have spray his crops with the chemical collixin, which

0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:42.120
<v Speaker 1>contained the fungicide tridomorph. This fungicide has since been found

0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:46.160
<v Speaker 1>to be so toxic when inhaled or ingested, with symptoms

0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.880
<v Speaker 1>including skin and eye irritation. It was banned from use

0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.920
<v Speaker 1>in the UK in two thousand, but the spraying had

0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.720
<v Speaker 1>been carried out three days before the event. Several fields

0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.560
<v Speaker 1>away from the Hollandwell site, and little to no evidence

0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:05.520
<v Speaker 1>of tridomorph was found on the grass and soil samples.

0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:09.119
<v Speaker 1>The next theory examined was whether a fire at a

0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:13.240
<v Speaker 1>plastics factory some miles away had spread toxic fumes over

0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.760
<v Speaker 1>the field, but again that cause was ruled out too

0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.640
<v Speaker 1>since the wind had been blowing in the wrong direction

0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:25.920
<v Speaker 1>at the time. Then another line of inquiry emerged. There

0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:29.479
<v Speaker 1>are over one hundred and fifty thousand abandoned mines across

0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:33.840
<v Speaker 1>the UK, and mine workings often extend for long distances

0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:39.119
<v Speaker 1>underground and were not always properly mapped. Across England, it

0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.400
<v Speaker 1>said that more than one hundred and thirty thousand residential

0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:46.320
<v Speaker 1>and commercial properties across England are within just twenty meters

0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.920
<v Speaker 1>of an abandoned mine shaft. Often there are few if

0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.119
<v Speaker 1>any signs at the surface that the old mine workings

0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:57.480
<v Speaker 1>are present below. And Nottinghamshire was once a cornerstone of

0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.880
<v Speaker 1>the British coal mining industry, with some of the nation's

0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:05.520
<v Speaker 1>largest and most productive deep mind coal reserves carved out

0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:11.720
<v Speaker 1>from underneath it. Once abandoned underground mines can accumulate gases

0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:17.919
<v Speaker 1>like methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfite that

0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:23.560
<v Speaker 1>can sometimes see park from below. Residents in homes above

0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:30.919
<v Speaker 1>such areas have reported experiencing headaches, breathlessness, dizziness, dry coughs,

0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:36.720
<v Speaker 1>and anxiety caused by rising gases. During the inquiry into

0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:40.560
<v Speaker 1>what became known as the Hollindwell incident, it was confirmed

0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:44.919
<v Speaker 1>that there were indeed old mine workings underneath Hollinwell Field.

0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.919
<v Speaker 1>Staff from the National Coal Board had even been at

0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:53.280
<v Speaker 1>the site the week before the Marching Band competition, but

0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:58.040
<v Speaker 1>yet again investigators drew a blank. The Coal Board had

0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.600
<v Speaker 1>merely been inspecting a borehole that had been solidly capped

0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:06.440
<v Speaker 1>and sealed before the work has left. In the end, incredibly,

0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:09.800
<v Speaker 1>when the official report came out, it said that what

0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:16.160
<v Speaker 1>had happened at Hollandwell was unrelated to any environmental hazard. Instead,

0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:22.840
<v Speaker 1>it concluded something unexpected and highly controversial, that the event

0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.600
<v Speaker 1>had been caused by mass hysteria due to a combination

0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.800
<v Speaker 1>of the warm weather compounded by the hot and tight

0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.560
<v Speaker 1>fitting costumes that many of the marching band children had

0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:37.280
<v Speaker 1>been wearing, all of which had been exacerbated by the

0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:41.959
<v Speaker 1>nervous excitement of participants and spectators and the alarming tannoy

0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:54.560
<v Speaker 1>announcements which had supposedly reinforced the panic. Unsurprisingly, the mass

0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.600
<v Speaker 1>hysteria finding of the official Hollandwell report was not well

0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.480
<v Speaker 1>received by many of the p people who'd actually been there.

0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:06.720
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained has covered strange stories of mass hysteria before, like

0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.000
<v Speaker 1>the dancing plague of Strasbourg in season eight, episode twenty seven,

0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:14.040
<v Speaker 1>but while that is thought to be due to mass

0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:18.359
<v Speaker 1>hysteria in motor behavior, the Hollandwell incident was considered to

0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:22.679
<v Speaker 1>be an outbreak of mass anxiety hysteria. Many might have

0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:25.960
<v Speaker 1>heard of this type of outbreak happening at pop concerts,

0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:29.119
<v Speaker 1>for example, it seems to happen most where there as

0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.000
<v Speaker 1>a crowd of people in a state of nervous excitement

0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:36.959
<v Speaker 1>combined with heat and long periods of waiting. Such cases

0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:41.200
<v Speaker 1>are especially prevalent in groups of school children and factory workers,

0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:47.520
<v Speaker 1>often with girls and women disproportionately affected. On average, sixty

0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:51.959
<v Speaker 1>seven percent of victims report headaches, around half feel dizzy,

0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:55.440
<v Speaker 1>while nausea crops up forty one percent of the time

0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:01.120
<v Speaker 1>and irritated eyes in thirteen percent of cases, a mass

0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:05.080
<v Speaker 1>hysteria event took place one October morning in nineteen sixty

0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:08.520
<v Speaker 1>five at a girls school in Blackburn in northern England.

0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:12.520
<v Speaker 1>Within a couple of hours, eighty five girls from the

0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:16.359
<v Speaker 1>school were rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital after

0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:21.199
<v Speaker 1>fainting or becoming dizzy. Clinical and laboratory tests showed no

0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.639
<v Speaker 1>evidence of food poisoning or air pollution. The day before

0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.720
<v Speaker 1>the outbreak, the children had taken part in a three

0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:32.959
<v Speaker 1>hour parade where twenty of them had seemingly collapsed. It

0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.880
<v Speaker 1>was concluded that this, along with the communal distress caused

0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:40.399
<v Speaker 1>by a recent polio epidemic in the area, had combined

0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:45.040
<v Speaker 1>to trigger the hysteria. Similarly, in two thousand nine, there

0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:48.080
<v Speaker 1>were a spate of what initially appeared to be poisonings

0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:53.639
<v Speaker 1>at girls schools across Afghanistan, with dizziness, fainting, and vomiting

0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:59.040
<v Speaker 1>also recorded, but despite investigations by the United Nations and

0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:03.200
<v Speaker 1>the World Health Allas Organization, no evidence of any toxins

0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:06.560
<v Speaker 1>or poisoning was ever found In the hundreds of blood,

0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:11.960
<v Speaker 1>urine and water samples tested. Again, the conclusion was that

0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:17.119
<v Speaker 1>the girls had experienced a mass psychogenic event. Some of

0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.800
<v Speaker 1>the symptoms reported from the Hollandwell event did fit with

0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:24.679
<v Speaker 1>the mass hysteria hypothesis, but not foaming at the mouth

0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:29.840
<v Speaker 1>or skin blisters. Many who were at the Hollandwell showground

0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:34.440
<v Speaker 1>were not convinced by the explanation why, they asked, would

0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:38.360
<v Speaker 1>some children and adults not become afflicted until several hours

0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:42.320
<v Speaker 1>after they had gone home? And how could babies get hysteria.

0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:46.199
<v Speaker 1>There was even a report in the Forteen Times, the

0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:51.600
<v Speaker 1>British magazine reporting on Strange Phenomena and paranormal occurrences, that

0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:55.560
<v Speaker 1>several horses and dogs present at or near the event

0:22:56.400 --> 0:23:07.199
<v Speaker 1>had also collapsed, with some voicing their concerns over the

0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:11.359
<v Speaker 1>inquiry publicly. The area's local member of parliament at the time,

0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:15.680
<v Speaker 1>Dennis Skinner, complained that the investigation had not been sufficiently

0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:19.800
<v Speaker 1>thorough because it had only affected working class people, who

0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:24.040
<v Speaker 1>were also powerless to challenge it. The official report did

0:23:24.080 --> 0:23:28.400
<v Speaker 1>concede that hospital tests on some patients showed slight evidence

0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:32.439
<v Speaker 1>that a toxic substance had been inhaled or consumed, but

0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:37.000
<v Speaker 1>what that toxin might have been was left unresolved, and

0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:41.879
<v Speaker 1>over time the Hollinwell incident steadily vanished from news headlines

0:23:42.119 --> 0:23:47.120
<v Speaker 1>and receded in the public consciousness. Then, in twenty twenty two,

0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:51.480
<v Speaker 1>a pair of reporters from BBC Radio Nottingham began to

0:23:51.560 --> 0:23:55.639
<v Speaker 1>wonder whether there might have been another Courts. Together, they

0:23:55.680 --> 0:23:59.920
<v Speaker 1>approached John Wright, a senior lecturer in chemistry and forensic

0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:04.600
<v Speaker 1>science at Nottingham Trent University, and asked him to reevaluate

0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:07.760
<v Speaker 1>the evidence from four decades ago in case of fresh

0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:12.080
<v Speaker 1>perspective could shed new light on the puzzle. After sifting

0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:16.320
<v Speaker 1>through all the available evidence, Wright concluded that the symptoms

0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:19.280
<v Speaker 1>had to be due to some sort of chemical reaction,

0:24:20.000 --> 0:24:24.960
<v Speaker 1>and there was one incredibly mundane yet potentially lethal culprit

0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:28.359
<v Speaker 1>connected to the on site toilets, which had been given

0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:33.480
<v Speaker 1>a cursory mention in the original report. In twenty twenty,

0:24:34.119 --> 0:24:37.720
<v Speaker 1>thirty four year old Celia Seymour from Feltham and West

0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:41.080
<v Speaker 1>London was reported to have died from a fatal asthma

0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:44.639
<v Speaker 1>attack while cleaning her bathroom. It had been triggered by

0:24:44.680 --> 0:24:48.920
<v Speaker 1>a gas that she unwittingly created after mixing large amounts

0:24:48.960 --> 0:24:53.560
<v Speaker 1>of bleach and toilet cleaner together. Chemist John Wright had

0:24:53.600 --> 0:24:57.359
<v Speaker 1>spotted that the original report on Hollinwell described how the

0:24:57.400 --> 0:25:01.520
<v Speaker 1>toilet block consisted of six chemical closets along with the

0:25:01.680 --> 0:25:06.560
<v Speaker 1>urinal which discharged into a pit close by. The report

0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:09.840
<v Speaker 1>also noted that the toilets appeared to have been recently

0:25:09.920 --> 0:25:13.240
<v Speaker 1>cleaned with an over liberal use of bleaching powder and

0:25:13.359 --> 0:25:18.399
<v Speaker 1>a powerful disinfectant. A noxious aroma of chlorine and ammonia

0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:22.880
<v Speaker 1>had also been reported emanating from the toilet block, which

0:25:22.880 --> 0:25:25.440
<v Speaker 1>had only been twenty yards from where many of the

0:25:25.560 --> 0:25:30.480
<v Speaker 1>children had been standing and performing. The forensic scientist suspected

0:25:30.480 --> 0:25:34.119
<v Speaker 1>that the cleaning products, intensified by the weather, might have

0:25:34.160 --> 0:25:37.719
<v Speaker 1>reacted to produce a cloud of near lethal chlorine gas,

0:25:38.520 --> 0:25:42.720
<v Speaker 1>the very same dense, pale green gas used extensively as

0:25:42.760 --> 0:25:47.840
<v Speaker 1>a chemical weapon in World War One. Symptoms of chlorine

0:25:47.920 --> 0:25:54.560
<v Speaker 1>gas poisoning include coughing, nausea, and watering eyes. If inhaled,

0:25:54.720 --> 0:25:58.320
<v Speaker 1>it irritates the lungs, makes people foam at the mouth,

0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:05.280
<v Speaker 1>and significant direct exposure can cause skin blisters. Claire Brown,

0:26:05.440 --> 0:26:08.320
<v Speaker 1>for one, who was eight when she became a victim

0:26:08.359 --> 0:26:11.400
<v Speaker 1>of the incident, has suffered a series of health problems

0:26:11.480 --> 0:26:17.159
<v Speaker 1>over the years, including infertility, endometriosis, having to have a

0:26:17.240 --> 0:26:22.440
<v Speaker 1>kidney removed, and breast cancer. She's pondered many times if

0:26:22.480 --> 0:26:25.680
<v Speaker 1>any of it was related to that strange balmy day

0:26:25.920 --> 0:26:31.120
<v Speaker 1>in July nineteen eighty, or perhaps there hadn't been any

0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:36.600
<v Speaker 1>type of poisoning at all. Certainly, experts studying the nocebo effect,

0:26:36.960 --> 0:26:40.400
<v Speaker 1>a kind of inverse of the placebo effect, in which

0:26:40.480 --> 0:26:44.760
<v Speaker 1>the suggestion of illness alone can cause real physical symptoms,

0:26:45.000 --> 0:26:48.639
<v Speaker 1>has explored in season seven, episode twenty three, the box

0:26:49.280 --> 0:26:54.720
<v Speaker 1>might beg to differ either way. Forty five years after

0:26:54.760 --> 0:26:58.080
<v Speaker 1>the event, it seems the true cause of the Hollingwell

0:26:58.119 --> 0:27:11.480
<v Speaker 1>incident is destined to remain stubbornly unexplained. This episode was

0:27:11.480 --> 0:27:15.679
<v Speaker 1>written by Diane Hope and produced by Richard McLain smith.

0:27:17.440 --> 0:27:20.160
<v Speaker 1>Thank you as ever for listening. Unexplained as an AV

0:27:20.280 --> 0:27:24.800
<v Speaker 1>Club Productions podcast created by Richard McLain smith. All other

0:27:24.840 --> 0:27:28.480
<v Speaker 1>elements of the podcast, including the music, are also produced

0:27:28.480 --> 0:27:32.960
<v Speaker 1>by me Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook

0:27:33.200 --> 0:27:37.160
<v Speaker 1>is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon,

0:27:37.359 --> 0:27:42.040
<v Speaker 1>Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and other bookstores. Please subscribe to

0:27:42.160 --> 0:27:45.080
<v Speaker 1>and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts, and

0:27:45.160 --> 0:27:47.439
<v Speaker 1>feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or

0:27:47.480 --> 0:27:51.040
<v Speaker 1>ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps

0:27:51.119 --> 0:27:53.440
<v Speaker 1>you have an explanation or a story of your own

0:27:53.480 --> 0:27:55.879
<v Speaker 1>you'd like to share. You can find out more at

0:27:55.960 --> 0:27:59.679
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online through X

0:27:59.760 --> 0:28:04.160
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0:28:04.160 --> 0:30:07.920
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